


Long Live, Havin' Some Fun

by WorkingChemistry



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alpha Jay, Alpha Mal, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Beta Evie, Canon Divergence, Carlos-centric, Gen, No Sex, Omega Carlos de Vil, Set during the first movie, The VKs actually blend in and are evil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:02:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22896112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WorkingChemistry/pseuds/WorkingChemistry
Summary: They’re in remedial goodness when the feeling of bad wrong starts to bubble under Carlos’ skin.It’s bad timing all around. They’ve got to get the wand so that they can make sure they stay safe. They don’t have time for his biological hiccups.
Relationships: Evie & Carlos de Vil, Evie & Jay & Mal & Carlos de Vil, Evie & Mal (Disney), Jay & Carlos De Vil, Mal & Carlos de Vil
Comments: 20
Kudos: 211
Collections: Download fics





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I’m saying it’s ‘complete’ but I’ll probably turn this into a multichap. (It’s 100% going to be updated with more later I just want to get my WIPs down before I make it official. Lol. ) I don’t do one shots very well. 
> 
> New fandom but also not. Lol. I’ve loved just about everything that Kenny Ortega has worked on and I’ve been obsessed with the movies since the first one, but I’m finally getting the courage to write for it. To my subs, I’m going to get back to the Wayne’s, promise. I could never leave my Jayby behind. ( ˘ ³˘)♥ 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy! <3

They’re in remedial goodness when the feeling of bad wrong starts to bubble under Carlos’ skin. It’s not an uncommon feeling, there’s not a lot of good happening on the Isle after all. The few days that he’s spent off it hasn’t convinced him that the good in Auradon is much better.

Fairy Godmother doesn’t seem to notice his lack of interest, or more likely is ignoring it, continuing to drone on about the different techniques for determining good from evil. 

To be honest, it’s a little insulting. 

He yawns and stretches before scratching at his arm. The ridges of scars catch on his fingernails, but it doesn’t soothe the anxiety making his skin itch. He shifts in his seat again. With no escape in sight, he goes back to sketching the internal workings of a phone that Jay had swiped for them. 

It’s no use. He can’t focus. 

“Everything okay?” Jay knocks into Carlos’ ribs with his elbow and hits a particularly fresh bruise.

He’d accidentally tugged too hard on Cruella’s hair the night before they left and had gotten a few good ‘love taps’ as a reminder to be more careful with his poor mama. 

Carlos shrugs off Jay’s concern, leg bouncing with the need to run. “Bored.”

“Carlos, why don’t you try answering this practice problem?” Fairy Godmother cuts through their conversation. She wields the pointer like a magic wand, gesturing to the writing on the board with a flourish. “If you find a newborn puppy you should a) feed it, b) hang a poster to find its mother, c) skin it to make a coat, or d) a &b?”

_Utterly_ insulting. Being evil wasn’t a lack of morality, it was actively choosing to place oneself above the needs of everyone else. If he were to be honest, his choice would be to run. Cruella’s approval is fleeting and not worth risking life and limb for. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t know what the ‘correct’ answer is. 

He hesitates a half second too long and Mal shoots him a dark look. If they want the wand, they need to make these royals think they can be taught. Instead of cutting this fairy down to size and ensuring she never underestimates his intelligence, he lowers his gaze submissively. “D.”

“Very good, Carlos!” Fairy Godmother’s voice is too shrill. 

He wants to cut her vocal cords, he wants to run, he wants to curl up in their overly large closet and pretend he’s back home. 

Oh. Oh no. 

Carlos waits until Fairy Mother has gone back to her lecture and then stabs Jay’s leg lightly with his pencil. It’s partially to get his attention, partially revenge for the bump on his bruises. 

“Dude.” Jay says. Stray strands of shoulder length hair falls into his face. It doesn’t obscure the anger or slight betrayal in the alpha’s expression. 

Carlos waves it away with a sharp flick of his hand. “What do I smell like?”

“What?”

He pushes a little closer to the alpha with a desperate, “What do I smell like?” 

“Like a beta, dude. I watched you put the cologne on.” Jay snarls under his breath. The look he gives Carlos is annoyed but he still dutifully leans in to sniff the top of Carlos’ head. One breath and Jay freezes, follows by another more panicked breath. “Oh not good.”

Carlos squeezes his eyes shut. Definitely not good. 

“Boys. Is everything alright?” Fairy Godmother asks. There’s absolutely nothing sharp about her voice, gentle and worried, but it still makes Carlos flinch.

He doesn’t have a response, so it’s a good thing Jay’s the one who speaks. “Carlos is feeling real sick. Said he thinks he’s gonna vomit. Probably ‘cause he’s not used to having so much food. Told him not to eat so much but... anyway can I help him back to our room?” 

As far as excuses go, it’s a little heavy-handed. Back on the Isle, Carlos had needed to actually make himself vomit on the desk before he was finally able to escape—if even then. 

Still, Fairy Godmother doesn’t seem to catch on. “Oh dear, you poor souls. Yes, of course. I’ll send your friends with some medicine for nausea after class ends.”

“Thanks, Fairy Godmother.” Carlos lets his lower lip tremble and tears prick his eyes. His fingers clench into the wooden desk as he hunches over in a self-induced retch. Hopefully he looks like the sad little beta pup he’s supposed to be. It’s a tiresome persona, but he’s perfected it.

Mal’s eyes bore into the back of his head as Jay helps him beat a hasty retreat. She’s most definitely not going to be happy. 

With classes still in session, they don’t run into any other students. As soon as they shut the door to their suite behind them, Carlos starts pushing the couch around their sitting room. The need to reorganize their living space into something more defensible burns through his self control. 

“C! Carlos! Calm down. I’m not sure we’re allowed to—” Jay tries several times to stop him before giving in and helping. “Aw, Hades’ bones. Mal’s gonna be mad.”

“Sorry. I forgot to take her opinion into consideration before I let my suppressants fail.” Carl turns on Jay with a snarl before flinching backwards. Stupid heat hormones bring involuntary tears to his eyes as he collapses onto the couch. The air is too thin and he can’t suck in all the oxygen he needs. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. Jay. I can’t go into heat here. I—I need my nest.”

“Spots.” Jay hisses and sends a desperate glance at the door as though Mal and Evie will appear through it. He fists his too long hair before re-securing it with a tie. Then he lifts up one end of the couch. “Alright C, where do you want this?” 

Carlos blinks up at him, but forces a smile. “Thanks, Jay.”

They manage to get the room set up so it has the maximum number of hiding spots possible. Some obvious to throw off attention, the others potential nesting spots. Carlos is going through Jay’s clothing at a desperate pace, trying to find anything that he can actually use to line the pitiful excuse for a nest currently twisted up in the closet. 

“Carlos you had better have a good—Hades bones.” Mal is brought up short the second she steps into the room. “E do you have supplies?” 

“Some. Enough. We’ll have to regather more later.” Evie says. She’s already digging through the pouch she tucked into a fold of the curtain for the herbs. “I think it’s too late to head it off completely though. Carlos why didn’t you—“

“I didn’t notice.” Carlos fiddles with the shell for a remote. He’s started altering it to hold a bomb. “They should have worked for another few weeks before I needed another dose.”

“Dude, how could you not notice?” Jay hisses, shoving at Carlos’ head. “You’re going into heat.”

“I don’t know!” Carlos drops the remote turned bomb and snarls at Jay. Usually he doesn’t fight too much when the older boy shoves him around, but with his heat heightened sensitivity and the unfamiliar surroundings it’s too much. “I don’t know. I didn’t feel off until we were in class.” 

“Sometimes that happens with a bad batch.” Evie kneels in front of him grinding the herbs into a paste with the mortar and pestle that they’d found in their kitchenette upon first exploration. “It sneaks up on you.”

Carlos doesn’t snap and ask her how she would know, even though he wants to. The fact that Evie is a beta instead of an omega was one of the Evil Queen’s biggest disappointments. Sure the others don’t understand what he’s going through, but he doesn’t particularly wish for them to. 

Instead he holds still as Mal feels his forehead and curses again. “Dalmatian spots. We don’t have the supplies for you to last out a heat. Jay come with me. We’re going to have to do a raid and get some of E and I’s clothes for his nest.”

“What are we going to do about class? Carlos can’t go like this and—“

“You’re not leaving once it hits.” That’s not an idea that will even be entertained. When Carlos had first presented a few years ago, spending those heats alone had been nightmarish. Deep in enemy territory, unfamiliar surroundings on all sides, Jay and Mal are lucky he’s letting them leave now. 

Mal hesitates by the door and the crosses back to his side to press her forehead against his. Only during his heats are they allowed such displays of weakness. He’s learned to cherish them. “We’re not going to leave you alone. Hopefully we’ve caught it early enough you won’t have to ride the whole thing out.”

“Hopefully.” Just the idea of it makes him shudder. He tries to tell himself that it could be worse, that he could be back at Hell Hall. Every heat since he’d presented four years ago, he’d had to hide from Cruella and whatever alpha she'd brought over to impregnate him. 

“Mommy wants puppies, Carlos.” She would coo. “You don’t want to upset mommy, do you?”

“I don’t want pups, Evie.” Carlos doesn’t whimper, no matter how badly he wants to. 

There’s soft sympathy in Evie’s eyes. While Carlos had been scrabbling for suppressants since his presentation, the Evil Queen had Evie on fertility treatments. She scoops up a glob if the herb paste with two fingers and lifts it to his lips. “C’mon, C. Eat up.”

Ginger, queen’s lace seeds, and stoneseed root ground into a paste with the help of a little alcohol and willow bark for pain. It’s one of the foulest concoctions he’s ever had to swallow once a month—twice a month when it fails. Carlos tries to swallow, but it triggers his gag reflex and Evie has to clamp her hand over his jaw until he finally swallows. 

Blinking back reflexive tears, he dutifully opens his mouth for the next scoopful. Running his fingertips over the ridges and divots of writing in his skin, he fights to ground himself enough for each swallow. 

He’ll die before he gives Cruella another creature to torture. 

* * *

Mal wants to break something. 

It’s bad enough when Carlos is forced into a heat on the Isle, but there they can at least defend him. Here they have only the few knives and daggers that they were able to hide away. They don’t have the food necessary to keep him going through the worst of it, and no good way to steal enough in so short a time without getting caught.

She can see the same worry echoed in Jay’s eyes. 

Carlos is barely holding it together most days, thanks to his nightmare of a mother, but during his heats... they let him ride out a few hours on his own only once. Once was enough to nearly lose him. It’s not a mistake Mal will make again. 

Ben is standing outside of the girl’s dorm when they arrive. He lights up when he spots them, holding up a small bottle that rattles. “There you are. Fairy Godmother said you rushed out before you got the medicine for Carlos’ nausea. The dosage is on the outside. It should melt under his tongue.” 

“Thank you.” Mal says. Her bright smile as Jay slips past Ben into the dorm seems to keep the young prince at ease. The entire country seems to be made up of stupid people who are fooled by charming words and grins. Her mother was right, these are people who won by luck and not talent. 

Faced with an actual threat, they’ll crumble like the Isle’s shore.

“I hope he gets well soon.” Ben shifts weight from one hip to the other. His hands slip in and out of pockets, like he doesn’t know what to do with them. “I have a tendency to get sick every time I’m traveling. Local food tastes so good, but if you’re not used to it...” 

He trails off with a laugh that Mal is forced to match. 

What does this princeling know of food sickness? He’s eaten nothing but the first pick of every kingdom he’s visited. She and her crew were left scrounging the barges or bartering Evie’s pretty smile and Carlos’ sweet scent to wheedle their way into first pick of the mainland’s cast offs. 

Still she forces her smile to stay soft and demure. Their continued presence in Auradon relies on this fool in particular to not suspect anything is amiss. “I did try to warn him, but, well he’s Carlos.”

“He’s such a sweet kid.” Ben agrees. 

Mal can hear the note of surprise that’s not as well hidden as he’d probably like it to be. For Cruella’s kid goes unsaid. If only Ben knew... sometimes Carlos can be so callous and cold it scares her. 

Empathy is a weakness that gets people killed and Carlos is so full of it that sometimes the only way for him to survive is to cut it out. 

She doesn’t blame him, envies him if anything, but seeing him grind his heel into the broken joint of a shopkeeper’s wrist before sitting his throat had been sickening to watch. Then later that night, when Carlos had allowed feeling to trickle back in, she’d held him while he’d vomited, sobbed, and shook. 

“Got it.” Jay taps the pack slung over his shoulder as he emerges from the room. “I know Carlos doesn’t care that much about a nest, but I know I feel better if I can build him one.”

“Alpha instincts can be such a pain.” Ben agrees. “Well, I’ll see you guys later. Fairy Godmother said you can be excused from classes for the rest of the day. 

Mal takes the second bag that Jay gives her. It crackles a little as it settles against her hip. Probably the food stash they’d tried to build. She flashes Ben one last smile. “Tell her thank you for us, and thank you for finding us, Ben. We really appreciate it.”

“Really appreciate it.” Jay agrees. 

“Anytime, guys. Let me know if you need anything.” Ben waves and heads toward his own dorm. 

Mal doesn’t wait to make sure that he’s truly gone before she breaks our into a sprint. They’ve been gone from Carlos too long already. If they aren’t all there when he hits the worst of it, he might not be there when they get back. Evie will do her best, but when Carlos gets self-destructive there’s not much that can be done beside picking up the pieces. 

Thankfully he’s asleep when they get back to the boy’s dorm, fitfully tossing and twisting silk sheets around his legs. The closet was an obvious choice for him, an unfortunate reminder of home. 

“How is he?”

“Swallowed everything down for me. Was a little lucid before he fell asleep, but he’s slipping.” Evie runs through the update as she pulls clothing from Jay’s bag and starts organizing it to fill out the rest of the nest. “Looked like it’s gonna be a bad one, but we might get lucky.”

Mal doesn’t think any of them have ever been lucky. She keeps that to herself though as she settles down beside Carlos.

He throws an arm around her torso, settling easier with his head on her lap. Sweet omega heat scent clings to him and gets stronger with each breath. There’s no way that they’ve managed to head it off completely, and she’d guess that they’ll have to wait it out tomorrow at the very least. 

“Sorry.” Carlos signs, glancing up at her with sleep heavy eyelids. Sometime words are too much for him, usually during his heat. “I should have—“

“You alerted us as soon as you knew. That’s all you should have done.” Despite her harsh tone, Mal nuzzles Carlos’ soft white tipped curls. “Rest, C. We’ve got it for now.”

“The plan—“

“Can be put off for a day or so.” She says. Her voice is firm and brooks no arguments. “We still aren’t sure where it is, this way we can research with that phone you hacked.”

He hums softly and nuzzles closer to her stomach, blindly reaching behind him with grabby hands. 

“Jay has guard duty.” Evie responds, nestling up behind him as the big spoon. 

With Carlos bracketed between them, the boy finally settles for real. A soft sigh escaping his plush lips. With his face slack he looks all of fifteen years old. As much as he always complains at being the bright eyed child, there’s definitely a reason that job falls to him. 

It’s not that it’s true for him, by any means, but Mal thinks just a little bit of the wonder that he pasted on actually clings to him. In biology he had nearly vibrated with excitement over having actual specimens to dissect and not just whatever Cruella’s minions and their children had trapped for Carlos to skin.

While all the princelings and princesses had stared down at their trays in muted horror, Carlos was already exploring the inside of the lamb with avid interest, showing Mal all of the different organs that made it up. Not even Jay had been a quick as he was to have everything out and labeled. 

She hadn’t missed the nasty looks the other students had shot them either, but she’d been willing to ignore the slip up. Carlos had done such a good job after anyway, replacing the organs and thanking the poor creature for its sacrifice. 

Jay had needed to cough into his elbow, violently, when Carlos gave the lamb a kiss on its nose. 

“Such a good omega.” Mal says, rubbing his shoulders gently. They only allow themselves this weakness, soft words and touches, during his heat. Though she never really wants Carlos to go through the terror of a heat, she can’t say that it doesn’t soothe her own instincts. “Sleep for us now. You can build us all sorts of bombs and fun things when you get better.”

“I was working on the remote.” He mumbles against her stomach with a just barely there purr. “But I was running into issues with the casing. There’s not a lot of room to keep the chemicals separate. But I was looking at the phone battery and— sorry.” 

“Hmm.” Mal meets Evie’s gaze with a shared grin, before glancing over at Jay who’s doing the coughing thing again. She turns back to Carlos. “Why don’t you tell me about it, maybe you’ll figure something out.”

And while he descends into technobabble that she barely understands, she can start plotting ways to keep him safe from the alpha heroes who might want to take revenge. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They can’t stay in the dorms for long without raising suspicion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back! My summer classes have started and I’m exhausted, sorry. I’ve had a lot of writer’s block so for now I’m just working on whatever catches my fancy. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> I love my comments and appreciate all of you who leave a kudos, or even just click on my work. Lots of love! Stay safe. <3

Mal strokes through Carlos’ sweaty curls and frets.

It’s been nearly a full day since his heat started and it’s showing no signs of letting up. Jay went out and to get more food while most everyone is in class, but they won’t be able to hide this for much longer.

With a soft croon, she bends to press her forehead against the one in her lap. “We wouldn’t complain if you wanted to cut this short, C.”

There’s only a whine in return. Carlos is in the thick of it, dozing fitfully.

They’ve changed nesting spots three times in the past day. When Carlos wakes, everything will probably be moved again. It’s not normal heat behavior, she knows it’s not normal heat behavior, but she doesn’t try to stop it either. Whatever will bring Carlos comfort while he’s wrapped in so much anxiety is what he will get.

She’ll kill to make sure of it.

“I’m too scared of overdosing him to make another batch of suppressant, but Jay’s back and he found some fennel and cinnamon bark.” Evie wiggles between the gap between the wall and bed to Carlos’s latest nest. She has a bowl of ground paste clutched tight in one hand. The red polish of her nails is chipped—that more than anything else is an indication of how worried she is. “They should help with his cramps.”

“Side effects?” Mal asks, before she gives permission. She knows Evie would never offer anything that she didn’t think was necessary, but Mal is the leader of their scraggly pack. That means she makes the final decisions. It’s not a responsibility that she takes lightly.

One wrong word and her pack could end up dead.

She’d promised them once—when they found Carlos forgotten by his mother in a bear that shattered his leg so badly that bone pierced skin—that she wouldn’t let them die while under her protection. It was a fae’s promise, sworn and given of her own volition.

People remember Maleficent’s curses, but they forget she used to bestow blessings too. Blessings that built up conquerors, empires, legacies, and elysiums

The rainbow of prettier fae gave such dull blessings. Pretty lips, golden hair, a nice voice. Bah.

Mal’s mother had blessed princesses with enough skill that they had no need to fear the princes that came calling for their hands. While other princesses were taught to dance and sing songs that delighted their faery godmothers, Maleficent’s blessings wrought queendoms.

That same power, to curse or bless, bubbles at her fingertips now. At the Isle she had only the faintest niggling of it. There was a thrum, but it had been so faint that the vibrating string would snap whenever she reached for it—much to her mother’s disappointment. But here... here it’s wild and thrashing, crashing against her body in waves she can’t hope to tame.

She tries to once more. A heat is not a wound that she can force into healing, but perhaps she can speed things along anyway. The result is a sharp buzz of shock, not unlike what some of Carlos’ trinkets give off when touched without a rubber glove barrier.

“Mal.” Evie interrupts Mal’s runaway thoughts. Her perfect smile is strained at the edges, like she’s been calling for sometime. “The, um, the side effects could be mouth sores or trouble breathing. If we were back home I might recommend maybe a small dose, if that, to keep him comfortable, but here—“

She doesn’t finish. She doesn’t need to.

Mal nods and takes in a deep, considering breath. Distressed heating omega scent surrounds her in a fog that makes it hard to stay level headed. Maybe if the cramps ease, it will lessen the rest of his symptoms. “Yeah. Okay. Give him the bare minimum you think he needs. I’ll see if Jay has something we can force feed him.”

“Go on. I’ll take care of it.” Evie nods, gently moving Carlos’ head to her lap so she can wake him. She’ll wait until Mal is out of the nest to start forcing the concoction down his throat.

It’s not a weakness, but she can’t watch.

It brings up too many memories of Maleficent forcing things down her own throat in attempts to strength her connection to a magic that was never there. Too many memories of Carlos taking other herbal concoctions to purge his stomach of whatever poison Cruella had made him drink that night. Memories of spooning soft mashes of stale bread and water into Jay’s mouth, trying to coax him back from starvation caused by Jafar’s greed. Memories of cradling Evie in her arms as she shook through the side effects of her mother’s latest fertility potion.

She’s the pillar of strength for her group. That means her time is better spent protecting than scooping paste down Carlos’ gullet.

That’s all.

Jay cleaning out his pockets and the dark navy blue pack strapped to his leg and hip. It looks like a good hall, mostly packaged food. There’s some fruit that will have to be eaten first, but she has no doubt Carlos will eat that if nothing else. The stash should last them a week, more if they really stretch it out.

She bats the back of his head lightly with an approving grin. “I’ll grab one of Evie’s bags. We can keep it all there so it’ll be easier to snatch and run if we need to.”

“How’s he looking?” Jay cranes his neck, like there’s a chance he could see the nest. “Evie said he’s been quiet.”

“He’s in it deep.” It takes a few minutes to search through the pile of rejected nesting materials, but she finds their to go bag. It has their most important valuables and all of Evie’s herbs. She tosses it to Jay and then crosses her arms tightly. “No nightmares yet, but we’re going to need to think of a cover soon.”

“I passed Ben while I was out. He didn’t see me, but he was asking someone if we were in class.” Jay finishes packing and then heads toward the nest to set the bag by their window. “I expect he’ll be by after class if some of us don’t show before that.”

“We can’t leave him. Not like this.” Mal snaps. Magic flares with anger and frustration, thrumming through her veins. It’s not directed at Jay, or Carlos, or even Ben really.

If she wasn’t positive that their parents will escape, with or without their help, she’d suggest their pack run now. They can fend for themselves, especially here. There’s nothing Auradon can do to make them obey if they can’t be found. Their parents though... there’s a lot their parents can do to them if they don’t obey.

A knock at the door causes Mal and Jay both to jump.

“Spots.” Mal hisses under her breath. She tosses two more bags at Jay. “Pack as much of the nest as you can. I’ll stall and meet you three in the forest.”

“Mal—“

“Evie can’t carry C by herself, Jay.” Mal insists, even as anxiety grips her chest and makes it difficult to breathe. “I’ll be fine. Go.”

He hesitates a moment more and then nods decisively. He dashes for the nest and Mal gives them a few more minutes head start before she opens the door.

It’s going to be alright. She fought off plenty of alphas while Carlos was in heat back on the isle—and those were mostly adults. Here the only adults are teachers and she doesn’t think Ben would have brought them to their dorm.

Yet.

A fourth set of knocks, louder and harsher than the ones previous, ring through the room. It’s Fairy Godmother, not Ben, who speaks. “Jay? Carlos? Open up dears. I don’t want to unlock your door, but seeing as this is a health and safety check I’m afraid that I will need to.”

Mal pulls at the magic until it’s hiding just beneath her skin and then jerks the door open to catch them off guard.

Fairy Godmother and Ben both step back, blinking at her. They both seem soft, but Mal knows no alpha is truly soft. Especially not one like Fairy Godmother—a nightmarish monster villains tell tales of to their children—with the capability to twist physical forms without her victim’s consent.

She’s the one recovers first, her voice so gratingly soft. “Mal. We didn’t expect you. How is Carlos—“ she takes a sniff and a step into the room. “Is someone in heat?”

Mal doesn’t let them get any further. She thrusts her arms forward to fling curling licks of green flames at them. Without staying to see the damage, she turns and runs. The window is still open, most of the nest is gone.

As she clambers out the window she can hear Fairy Godmother cast a spell of her own to dispel the flames. Without thinking, Mal lets go of the window sill so she can force grow thorny briars to close the window off.

She crashes into the ground with a roll and stumbles to her feet. At the edge of the clearing she can see her packmates disappear into the woods.

They’re safe. And that’s what matters.

For a moment, only a moment, she pauses to make sure that no one is watching to follow them. Classes have just let out, but there’s no one on this side of the castle. It’s a blessing they can’t count on.

Normally this would be nothing, compared to the isle it’s certainly nothing, but two spells back to back have winded her. She pants as she pumps her limbs and charges for shelter.

Once she’s inside the woods proper, she has to pause to catch her breath.

Around her everything is vibrating with life. Birds sing and squirrels dash around without fear. There’s the quiet rustling of the breeze through the trees and somewhere in the distance a brook babbles happily. It makes it impossible to be sure they’re not being followed.

Rutting alphas are usually clumsy and loud, but she can’t trust that. There are exceptions to the norm. Especially when the alphas have been living in such dense undergrowth their whole lives. No doubt silent hunting was one of the first things their parents passed down to them.

If Mal were one of these nauseating heroes with children she.... loved... such survival skills would be one of the first things she taught them.

Once her breath is caught, Mal scents the air. It’s faint, thanks to the cacophonous smells of nature’s growth, but she can taste the sweet tang of spiced cider—Carlos’ scent.

Mal forced back her headache as she chants another spell. Behind her, the breeze picks up to a strong wind, dispelling scents faster than normal.

It will have to do until she reaches the others and can help Evie hide Carlos’ scent with potions and spells. With most of her spell book—currently in the to go bag she’d tossed to Jay—gone, she’s forced to recite the names of all the spells in alphabetical order. Carlos hates when magic is used on him, but she needs to remember ingredients for the heat silencer charm she’d developed. Though it won’t stop his heat, it will at least mask his presence.

* * *

  
Evie wasn’t strong enough to carry Carlos through the underbrush so she’d passed him to Jay and took the bags. She’s glad she did since even Jay is starting to look winded.

Once they’re pretty sure it’s safe, she and Jay pause to examine the area they find themselves in. It’s thick with trees and tangled long grasses that make it difficult to move. She shifts the bags higher up one shoulder and starts poking around some of the thicker clumps for anything that can serve as a shelter.

That’s how she finds it.

“Jay, over here.” She hisses, gesturing for him to join her. It’s a large tree, seemingly strong and solid from the outside. It’s only a smallish opening at the base, almost entirely hidden by tangled weeds, that allows her to see that it’s hollow all the way through. “Do you think we can get inside?”

Jay crouches, Carlos balanced on his knees, to peer in. The alpha’s low rumble sounds desperate as he cautiously pulls at the wood with his temporarily freed hand. “Maybe? You and Carlos can. If we have to, Mal and I can probably climb up into one of the surrounding trees to keep watch.”

Without warning, Carlos squirms free and makes it to his feet. His gaze is bleary and unfocused, but he’s standing. “Mal. She’s gone. We left her.”

“She’s coming, C.” Evie reaches out and strokes Carlos’s arm gently. “It’s gonna be okay. Shh.”

Carlos stays standing, trembling in the cold. Thankfully he seems aware enough that he doesn’t whine loudly. His scent even starts to die down even, so he must be making an effort to hide it. “Where’s Cruella?”

So... maybe not completely aware. Still, slightly aware is better than not at all. She glances at Jay and they decide without speaking that it’s not worth the waste of breath to explain. “Not here. We’ve found you a new nest. Will you look it over?”

Following her direction, Carlos creeps into the tree. Thankfully he’s not like all of the silly omegas in her mother’s romance novels, he won’t refuse to nest somewhere just because he doesn’t like it. Carlos knows better than they do that sometimes surviving is enough.

When he reaches back for her with grabby hands, Evie lets him pull her in with him. Once inside, she’s surprised to see that there’s enough space for her to stand. The structural integrity of the large oak is probably compromised but beggars can’t be choosers.

Setting the bags of bedding down, she opens them for Carlos to examine. He immediately shuffles forward to start unpacking.

As a soft hum and the noise of shuffling starts up behind her, Evie pokes her head back out to find Jay keeping watch. “There’s enough space. See if you can fit.”

Jay nods once without moving to obey. He heard her, but he’s going to scout out the area first probably. Maybe see if he can find Mal.

Evie twists to fully renter their shelter and finds Carlos laying down the blankets as a layer of foundation. They packed as much of it up as possible, but there was only so much they could grab. Thankfully, Carlos seems pleased with it. He nudges the clothing around the nest until he shuffles over and presses his head against Evie’s shoulder. “Got a headache.”

“I’m sorry, C. Wait just a little longer and we’ll see what I can do.” She reaches up to massage his temples.

In response, he shifts so that he can lay against her more fully. Her arms fit around him, thin and fine boned as he is, it takes no effort at all. Shoulders dropping with the realization he seems to be actually coherent, she rocks with him gently.

He curls up, half in her lap, and doesn’t look up even when Jay joins them. Carlos has always been the smallest of them, but like this he looks decades younger.

Jay wraps his arms around Evie, draping himself over Carlo’s back. His scent is subdued, but fierce nonetheless, as he rubs the glands on his wrist over Carlos’s jaw and cheeks. “I didn’t see Mal, so she’s probably still covering our tracks.”

Carlos seems to shrink further, his whole body trembling from the effort of it. “‘m sorry guys. I screwed everything up. Now our parents—“

“Our parents will never know.” Evie interrupts, firm but not sharp. Never sharp, not with her pack, not with Carlos. “We’re going to take care of this and then we’ll figure out something to tell the AKs.”

“They don’t know it was you.” Jay reassures.

Carlos scoffs. There’s a shuffle of his body underneath them and Evie rests her hand over his arm to make sure his grounding techniques don’t turn too violent. He settles and sighs. “Fairy Godmother knows I was sick. It doesn’t take much work to put the two together.”

“She knows you were sick, not that you were in heat.” Jay corrects. “She night assume, but I’m sure our Evie girl will make a beautiful omega.”

“Evie doesn’t want to be an omega.” Carlos nudges Jay back with his shoulder so that he can see her. “I wouldn’t ask that of you, E.”

“I don’t mind it, C.” Evie croons softly and tucks a soft bit of fabric across his lap. “Not if it’s for you. It seems my mother’s lessons will come in handy after all.”

“But the alphas will all—“

“And when they try, Mal and I will step in.” Jay says. “We can fight off any of these prissy alpha pups.”

“What if you’re not around?” Carlos rubs his cheek on Evie’s shoulder, gaze starting to go distant again as he finally settles into the nest.

Jay nips Carlos’ cheek lightly, like one would a pup. “Then Evie will handle them. She’s not actually an omega, so they won’t be expecting her to shake off their influence so easy.”

“You do so much to protect us with your inventions and plans, let us protect you this once.” Evie says. She keeps her words soft, dipping into a purr, as she shifts them to lay down.

Carlos gives an equally soft whine, but settles once he’s cradled between their bodies. “I don’t like it.”

“Noted.” Jay pets back Carlos’s hair. “Just rest for now, pup. We’ll wake you when Mal shows up.”

“The very minute?” Carlos opens one eye and twists his head over his shoulder to glare at Jay.

With a laugh, Jay pecks Carlos’ scrunched nose. “Not a second more. Now sleep. We have watch.”

It’s hard to admit, stranded as they are, but Evie’s never felt so cozy and warm. Not even their hideout had felt so safe as this hollow tree in the middle of the woods. If it weren’t for Mal’s absence, she might even suggest that she and Jay both get some rest, but as it is they take turns dozing.

The sun has set low enough that they can’t see out through the hollow when the rain starts. A thunderous downpour that will dampen their scents and wash away their tracks. The sound is soothing and Evie is finding it hard to keep her open, when the cracking of branches alerts her to an intruder.

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from Ways to be Wicked, which I think is probably the best song in the trilogy.


End file.
